Yes, I was a water baby also.
My grandfather had a cafe and home in San Leon on Galveston Bay and he also had a fleet of row boats that he and my Dad took out every morning around 6 a.m. with a speed boat to fish and went back in the afternoon to pick them up about 5 p.m..
Once I decided to take one from the pier and row out towards the channel. Well, the tide started going out after I was about a half of a mile out and I was not strong enough to row against it and I decided that the best thing to do was drop the anchor and sit it out. They missed me and starting looking all over for me then my Granddad noticed one of the row boats missing and told my Dad,"She wouldn't dare take one out and my Dad said, "It's very possible as she has always been very curious about doing things by herself".They got their telescope and sure enough saw me sitting out there.
They got in the speed boat and came out to get me and pull the row boat back in. My grandfather never laid a hand on me but pointed his finger right in my face and told me if I ever did that again he would spank my bottom to where I would not be able to sit down for days and scared me so badly I promised never to do that again. My Mom did all the punishing in our family and I just knew when I got home she was going to march me out to the hedge and make me pick my own switch to be spanked. I finally realized that was not going to happen as they were thrilled beyond words that I was safe and still with them. Yes, I was a brat when small and being a Gemini my evil twin always got me into trouble.
I had a daughter that is also tiny and she took our Sunfish out like that and tumped it over and the mast stuck in the mud. We had looked and the Sunfish was gone, so we also took our telescope and found her and my oldest daughter and her Dad swam out to get her and the boat. It was in February and the water was so cold they nearly froze but got her and it in and my husband laid on the floor by the heater for a couple hours trying to recover from that experience. I had told him the story about me long before and he said, "Well, I guess paybacks are hell and you remember that". We also did not punish her but told her we would not bring her back there if it ever happened again. She was really a tort and continued to be for many years but she finally grew up and is more conscious of danger than any of our other children. Has had her share of serious accidents and still here to tell about them, but her body is a mass of scars from the neck down to her knees, but God always let her live and she is really a believer now. Her parents almost didn't live through it and yet, I think it made us a stronger family of faith. We have been through it all and they all grew up and are on their own now and we're waiting for paybacks for them to show up...not bad ones but waiting for them to admit the error of their ways back then. Sometimes when we have family get to gathers we talk about those times and laugh about it now, but then it was a serious matter to us and glad those times are behind us and believe we are more blessed than ever that we are still all together all in one piece. My husband still says that our family hid the insanity included therein from him and teases all of us about that. We never take him seriously about that cause his family never told us about theirs either..... Guess we can be just one big family of nuts and be happy about it. |
